Posts tagged ‘fab five’

Finally, an article that makes sense of this whole fiasco. People love to overreact about a few words and not even bother to pay attention to the context in which those words were used. I just skipped to the good stuff in the article. ENJOY!

In that world, I suppose it’s unsurprising that Jalen Rose, the son of some of the meanest streets in America, is being attacked far and wide for comments he made about Duke and Grant Hill in the Fab Five documentary that aired on ESPN on Sunday night, particularly Rose’s comment that he thought all Black players who went to Duke were “Uncle Toms.” And it’s also unsurprising that Grant HiIl, the son of privilege, is being praised for his response in yesterday’s New York Times to Rose’s comments.

ESPN’s “30 for 30” documentary series was must-watch television in 2010. When it came out that more documentaries were going to be made in 2011 following a similar style, people naturally got excited. When it came out that the first 2011 documentary would focus on the Fab Five, people got really excited.

Promotion for the Fab Five documentary kicked into high gear in February. Reviews started coming out last week that it was, like most of the “30 for 30” docs, must-see TV. When it finally aired on Sunday night after the NCAA basketball tournament selection show, viewers realized that the hype was there for a reason — it was that good. The documentary provided a history lesson on the Fab Five, both on and off the basketball court, and gave us a glimpse into their world in the early 90s.

Between the excitement for the movie, the positive reviews, the hype and the very good time slot, the Fab Five documentary ended up garnering 2.7 million viewers. This made it the most viewed documentary in ESPN history, which includes all 30 of the docs aired last year. That is a pretty remarkable achievement, and it shows that even two decades later, the Fab Five still has drawing power.

Grant Hill didn’t take to kindly to Jalen Rose’s thoughts as a 17 year old kid in regards to being an “Uncle Tom.” It was only a matter of time.

“The Fab Five,” an ESPN film about the Michigan basketball careers of Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson from 1991 to 1993, was broadcast for the first time Sunday night. In the show, Rose, the show’s executive producer, stated that Duke recruited only black players he considered to be “Uncle Toms.” Grant Hill, a player on the Duke team that beat Michigan in the 1992 Final Four, reflected on Rose’s comments.

I see where Jalen is coming from and I don’t necessarily disagree, but I wouldn’t call them an ‘Uncle Tom,’ but at the same when I was in high school I did have those same thoughts about their black players unfortunately. Your thoughts?